


Crazy Little Thing Called Love

by xSophie2x



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Lots of Music, M/M, Moving back to hometown, Music, Old music - Freeform, Reunion, Vintage clothing, music talk, record store, small town, vintage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 08:48:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18869815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xSophie2x/pseuds/xSophie2x
Summary: Theo moves back to his little hometown after college for a job, where he reunites with his long lost best friend Liam. Theo is surprised, but they catch up. And after getting some old troubles out of the way, he didn't think it could lead to something more





	Crazy Little Thing Called Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LI0NH34RT](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LI0NH34RT/gifts), [ThiamHarpy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThiamHarpy/gifts), [manonlemelon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/manonlemelon/gifts).



> This is my attempt at retro/vintage Thiam. Sort of. Enjoy!

# Slowly, Theo put the car to a stop on the side of the road, pulling over, and turned off the rumbling engine. Looking around the almost empty streets he got out of the car, slamming the door shut behind him, resting his hands on his hips as a grin appeared on his face.

Man, he thought. Nothing ever really changed here, did it?

With a smile he looked across the street where the cars occasionally passed by, still seeing the little bar where he always used to come for drinks and had once known Johnny, the owner, and the small laundromat on the corner of the street. In all honesty, Theo was glad to see that the small town where he’d grown up hadn’t changed much, it really made it feel like coming home.

Though, really, he couldn’t stop himself from hoping that there was one thing, one thing above all others, that hadn’t changed either.

With a soft sigh he locked his car and hooked his fingers in the collar of his leather jacket, swinging it over his right shoulder before he looked if there weren’t any cars coming, and crossed the street.

His keys to his new, small apartment were already in his hand when he reached the other side, and after walking up to his new home that was squeezed in between a convenience store and another house and fumbling with the keys a bit, he was happy to see that the door opened. He had to push a for a bit, as it was a little stuck, but a wave of relief washed over him when he managed it, and he took a look inside.

The first thing he saw was the staircase, leading up to where his new home actually was, and after shutting the door behind him and turning around in the cramped hallway, which was harder than he imagined because it was so small, he started up the stairs with a smile.

His room turned out to be actually quite simple, just a small living room with a table with two chairs, a single couch and a small TV to the right, and a small kitchen right next to the living room that wasn’t even separated with a door. You could simply walk right inside. And there, down the short, narrow hallway, Theo guessed were his new bedroom and bathroom.

He liked it. It wasn’t much, but it was home already. And Theo thought that maybe he didn’t need much more, because this was perfect for just one person.

Curiously, he took a look around in the rest of the rooms, to see what it all looked like. It was definitely simple, but Theo had to admit that he was more than alright with that, because growing up in this small town had definitely made him used to the simple things. And with every room that he looked into, he liked it more. The good thing about a place so small, was definitely how homely it felt, and Theo already felt comfortable here. He could easily picture himself living here.

With a soft sigh, he put his backpack next to the table, deciding to get the rest of his stuff out of the car later, because his stomach grumbling interrupted his thoughts. Theo chuckled at that, grabbing his wallet and a small pack of cigarettes out of his backpack, before running out of the door again and going downstairs to grab something to eat at the convenience store next door real quick.

A little out of breath he pushed the door to the store open, thinking that maybe he should do more sports again and drive around less in his beloved car. With a soft chuckle a the thought he walked through the store to grab the things he needed for a simple meal that would be ready quickly, and joined in line to wait until it was his turn to pay.

When he did, though, he narrowed his eyes and stared ahead, his attention was caught by a boy who was standing two spots in front of him and was wearing a denim jacket that matched his blue jeans well, along with a pair of worn out white sneakers. He seemed around his age, only slightly shorter than him, and had dark blonde, messy hair.

‘Leeyum?’ he blurted, unable to stop himself from using the nickname he had for his friend that he last saw years ago.

Liam froze, turning around and stepping out of the line with his few groceries to face Theo. ‘Theo?’ he asked. ‘Theo Raeken? I thought I recognized your voice. I don’t think I could ever forget that.’

Theo chuckled a bit nervously, not really having expected seeing his best friend that he lost contact with years ago again so suddenly, in a convenience store of all places. He remembered him looking good, and remembered thinking that he looked good but not like this. Not with eyes so blue and shoulders so broad and looking so… Good.

‘Yeah,’ he laughed softly then, pushing away the thought. ‘It’s been a while.’

‘You could say that,’ Liam said quietly, as they got back in line to pay for their food. Theo thought he could detect a slightly bitter tone in Liam’s voice, but he shook away the thought. He hoped he’d imagined it. ‘If I’m being honest, I didn’t think I would ever see you here again,’ Liam said then, briefly, curiously, eyeing the tattoo on Theo’s upper arm that peeked out from under the sleeve of his white shirt.

‘Yeah, well, uh, I’ve got a job here,’ Theo told him, shuffling with his feet. ‘So I had to come back.’

Liam nodded shortly, a little reluctant after hearing that. He waited next to the counter till Theo had payed for his stuff, and they walked out of the small store together, pushing open the door to the street.

‘Where do you work?’ Liam asked once they were outside, ready to start catching up now that they didn’t have to focus on other things anymore.

‘At the record store, towards the other side of town,’ Theo said, watching and grinning as Liam’s eyes went wide in surprise.

‘That’s a great store,’ he said, as slight excitement sounded through his voice. ‘You’re very lucky to work there.’

‘I hope so, I haven’t started yet,’ Theo chuckled, as an idea popped into his head. ‘You know, we can go there now, if you want. I’ve met the owner already, for an interview, and he showed me the entire store. Everything. If I tell him I know you, I’m sure I’m allowed to show you too.’

Liam nodded, seeming excited at the idea, and Theo felt a warm feeling in his stomach at the sight, at the thought of making Liam happy, that he knew he’d felt there before around the other boy, but never this strongly. He ignored it for now though, and walked to the side of the street to go to his car. ‘Okay, come on,’ he said, gesturing for Liam to come with him.

‘Wait,’ Liam started, as they crossed the road, looking up at Theo surprised. ‘That’s your car?’

‘Yeah!’ Theo laughed, watching as Liam stared at his old, shiny black car with the open roof, clearly impressed with it.

‘That’s awesome,’ he said quietly, all his attention directed at the old-looking black car as he admired it.

Theo nodded with a smile, as that was what he had thought as well when he bought it, and walked around the car to the driver’s side to open the door. ‘You can just leave your groceries in the back,’ he said. ‘I mean, you have nothing that needs to go in the refrigerator or something, right?’

Liam checked his things quickly, before looking up. ‘No,’ he said, before doing what Theo said and leaving his groceries in the back.

Theo smirked. ‘Okay. Come on then, Leeyum. Get in.’

He saw Liam tensing up a bit at the name, staring down at the car frozen, before pulling the door open a little more harshly than was maybe necessary.

Theo bit his lip, frowning at Liam’s reaction and wondering why it wasn’t okay to use that name anymore now, before he got in then too. He started the engine, checking if the street was empty even if it was hardly necessary with how abandoned it always was, before driving onto the street carefully.

After a minute or two, Theo reached out and turned on the radio, the music that he had been listening to on the way here blasting out of the speakers again.

Liam let out a chuckle as he recognized the song that was playing, and looked up at Theo. ‘Still a Nirvana fan then I see? Good to know that that hasn’t changed.’

Theo laughed, glad that the tension on Liam’s side had disappeared again. ‘Yeah, well, what can I say?’ he said. ‘ _Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle_ is a great song.’

‘That it is,’ Liam agreed, looking up at him, with his hair blowing in the wind and making Theo think that he looked good for a brief moment, again.

‘More people should listen to it,’ Theo chuckled then. ‘You know, some people listen to _Smells Like Teen Spirit_ once and call themselves a Nirvana fan, but that’s not how it works!’ Theo grinned, looking over at his friend with the same unexpected warm feeling in his chest from earlier, before he turned the volume down a little and asked: ‘So how are you? Have you really still been living in this dead-end town all this time?’

Liam shrugged, looking down, and Theo detected a bit of his hesitation. ‘It was fine, not that bad. You know in the end I never went to college, like you, but I got my own little place a couple years ago and I work in some small bookstore in a small street of town. It’s not the greatest and the pay isn’t much, but it’s enough. I can make things work. And I still see my parents often. Couldn’t really be otherwise in a town as small as this, right?’

Theo nodded in understanding, wondering what Liam had been up to all this time, and fought the urge to place his hand over Liam’s between them. Somehow he didn’t think that was a good idea, not when some of the tension had reappeared, and they hadn’t seen each other in four years.

‘I’m happy in my own place,’ Liam said then. ‘It’s working, you know?’ he said, before turning to look outside again.

Theo glanced towards him briefly before turning his attention back to the road again. He knew something had changed, something that explained Liam’s underlying reluctance even when he seemed excited. It was like a wall between them and they couldn’t just pick up where they left off all those years ago, but damn, would he lie if he said that wasn’t what he wanted right now.

‘You know, I just got a new place too, next to the convenience store,’ he told Liam with a small smile then, to continue the conversation. ‘It’s not big, but it’s homely. You should see it!’

Liam nodded. ‘Yeah, maybe I could do that sometime,’ he said slowly, and a sad sigh almost escaped Theo’s lips.

He parked his car on the side of the road wordlessly then when they reached the record store, and when they got out, the excitement had wormed it’s way back into Liam’s gaze.

He put his hands in the pockets of his oversized denim jacket and walked up to the door, pulling it open and waiting for Theo before going inside.

As they walked up to the counter, Liam looked at all the long rows of boxes with records in them with wide eyes, all the way up to the back, and all the posters of older and newer bands, popular and less well-known, before he noticed that Theo had walked ahead of him already.

‘Zeke!’ Theo called, who Liam guessed was his new boss, as he leaned over the counter. ‘Zeke!’

A dark-skinned man, a bit older already, who had to be the owner, came walking out of the back slowly then, towards the counter. Liam realized that he kinda knew him already, he had seen him around sometimes when he went to the record shop before.

‘Theo!’ the man, whose name was Zeke, laughed when he saw who had called for him. ‘What are you doing here. I thought we’d agreed you wouldn’t start until tomorrow.’

‘Yeah,’ Theo responded with a laugh. ‘But this is Liam, he likes the shop and I thought it’d be okay if I showed him some of the things you’ve shown me.’

‘Of course, of course,’ Zeke nodded, before taking a look at Liam. ‘You know, I’ve seen you around here. You have a good taste in music, don’t you?’ he chuckled, obviously talking about the fact that they were standing in his store and that he was selling the best music in town.

‘Yeah, I, uh, hope so,’ Liam chuckled a bit nervously, and Zeke laughed.

‘Good, good,’ he said, before looking back to Theo. ‘Well, I’ve got some work to do in the back, but show him around. Show him the good things, yeah? Have fun.’

‘Thanks, Zeke,’ Theo laughed, before Zeke started back towards the back again and he turned to Liam. ‘You wanna look in here first?’ he asked.

‘Yeah,’ Liam nodded, and strolled towards a couple boxes with records closer to the entrance to start browsing through them. Theo walked after him, looking through the boxes with records on the other side of the table to find a cool one to take with him, but looked up at Liam every now and then. He couldn’t help but think Liam looked so… good, standing there with a concentrated frown on his face as he looked through the boxes.

‘Can you find something you want?’ Theo asked, as they slowly walked past the tables, further towards the back.

‘Hmm,’ Liam frowned. ‘I don’t know yet, I’m still looking.’

Theo nodded, an idea popping in his head. ‘You know, we have more in the back. Zeke said I could show you, so if you wanna see…’

‘Really?’ Liam asked with wide eyes. ‘Do you mean it?’

Theo nodded, happy that Liam liked the idea, a warm feeling in his chest. ‘Okay, come on,’ he said, gesturing at Liam and leading him through the store towards the back, past the counter with the box with posters next to it.

Zeke was standing in the back, smiling at them as they walked in before turning back to the shelves and continuing with his work of sorting out the records, and putting them in alphabetical order. Liam walked to a shelf on the other side of the room, checking them out and seeing if he could find something nice. It was a little dark, but not so much so that they couldn’t see it anymore.

Theo stood next to him, looking over the shelves, where there were records of Guns ‘n Roses, The Rolling Stones and they even had a couple of Queen records, enough so that they wouldn’t run out of them when a lot of people bought them.

‘I love Queen,’ Liam said next to him quietly. ‘ _Crazy Little Thing Called Love_ was an amazing song, and _Made In Heaven_ too.’

‘I know,’ Theo said, remembering how crazy Liam used to be about the band, and maybe still was. ‘It was so sad when Freddie Mercury passed away. I like to think they would still be making music if he hadn’t,’ he said, even if he was sure the thought was a little ridiculous. ‘I love Brian May’s version of _Too Much Love Will Kill You_ ,’ he said then.

‘Oh yes,’ Liam nodded in agreement. ‘That one’s great. A bit emotional, but beautiful,’ he said, and Theo smiled slightly at the fact that they still agreed on a lot of things, and still thought the same way about things.

Liam moved onto the next shelf then, stepping to the side and searching through the records there. Theo turned around, still lingering by the Queen records for a moment more, before starting to look for another one. They looked through most of them, going through almost all of the records in the back, before Liam pulled out a record and exclaimed: ‘I’ve wanted this one for ages!’

He held up a record of the Ramones, smiling brightly at it and happy that he found it, causing Theo to smile as well.

‘Well, why don’t you get it?’ he asked, choosing a Rolling Stones record that he’d been looking at for himself.

‘I will,’ Liam said, looking up from the record. ‘I will.’

He looked towards the record in admiration once more, undeniably happy that he’d found it, and waited for Theo before they walked out of the back into the store again. There, they waited for Zeke to come out of the back as well, thankfully not having to wait very long, before he took the records from them and scanned them so they could pay.

‘These two are you choices then?’ he asked. ‘Very good choice.’

Theo nodded, chuckling, and waited patiently until Zeke had scanned the items, while chatting a bit with him and Liam about the songs on the records. They paid then, saying goodbye to Zeke after he put the records in a little bag for them, and left the store. Theo’s little bag with his new record swung back and forth in his hand.

‘Wow, that was so cool!’ Liam breathed out as they stood outside then, in the bright sunlight of the summer. ‘That we could just take records out of the back. Not many shops let you do that, but that shop only just got more awesome now!’

Theo chuckled, glad to see Liam happy, with the store and his record, and he nodded, smiling.

‘Come on,’ Liam said then, starting back towards the car with his bag swinging in his hand, before Theo looked around the street and got an idea.

‘Hey,’ he said, continuing as Liam turned back around. ‘What if we go there, now?’ he asked, and nodded towards a vintage clothing store two doors down from the record shop.

Liam hesitated, a pensive frown on his face, but then he nodded. ‘Yeah, sure. Alright,’ he said.

Theo smiled, already feeling like things were starting to be like they used to between him and Liam, just the two of them hanging out, but he knew that it wasn’t that simple.

The wall was still there. He could feel it.

As they walked to the vintage clothing store and went inside, though, he shook the thought away, just focusing on hanging out with Liam right now. Following after each other, they walked into the store, and there, Theo took a look around.

It was a fairly new store, that hadn’t been there when he left town four years ago. It was quite big too, with clothing racks and little tables all over the store, but because of the vintage style of the clothes, the store had it’s very own vibe completely. Theo chuckled a bit when he saw the cowboy boots in the corner, before walking after Liam.

Inside, Liam went to the right immediately, where the leather and denim jackets were hanging, and Theo smiled. He knew Liam liked those, the denim jackets. He remembered it.

As Liam started browsing through the clothing rack, Theo took another look around the store and walked around to the other side of the rack that Liam was looking through. They had flannel shirts there too, which wasn’t really anything Theo was interested in, but Liam’s voice made him look up again then.

‘Can I ask you something?’ he asked, seeming a little unsure about it.

Theo nodded.

‘What’s your tattoo?’ Liam asked, a little shy.

Theo chuckled softly, because of course it was okay that Liam asked about his tattoo. He walked back around the clothing rack to Liam and pulled up his sleeve, to show it to him. Liam’s eyes went a little wide in curiosity as he took in the birds on Theo’s upper arm, and he carefully reached out his fingers to brush over the tattoo in admiration. Theo shivered at the touch a little, staring at the slightly shorter boy in front of him and his heart skipped a beat when Liam looked up and stared in his eyes, blue meeting green. Theo swallowed, staying still for a moment before pulling his sleeve back down.

‘There are three, one for each of them,’ he said with his mouth a little dry. ‘One for mom, one for dad and one for Tara. They love them.’

Liam nodded, not saying anything at first, but an understanding look in his eyes. ‘That’s… They’re nice,’ he said, before taking a step back and interrupting the moment. Theo nodded. ‘Yeah… Thanks.’

Liam nodded, turning back towards the jackets. It took Theo a moment to take his eyes off of him, asking himself what had just happened, but when he did, a slightly higher table with it’s items on top caught his eye. He snorted. ‘Liam, look,’ he laughed, gesturing to the table. ‘They have cowboy hats here too!’

Liam looked up, raising his eyebrows at the hats before bursting out laughing. ‘No fucking way!’

‘You should try one on,’ Theo laughed, their weird moment from earlier forgotten. Before Liam could protest, he’d already grabbed a big grey hat of the table, and turned towards his friend.

Liam was already standing behind him, his head snapping up at Theo when he turned around, an expectant look in his eyes. Theo smiled slightly, carefully placing the hat on the other boy’s head. ‘There,’ he said then, looking into his eyes. ‘Perfect.’

Though he wasn’t sure if he was talking about the hat anymore.

Liam just grinned though, looking over at Theo. ‘I should actually have one of those little straw things, you know? Like a real, proper cowboy.’

Theo let out a laugh at that. ‘Yeah, yeah, I know,’ he said. ‘But this works too.’

He got the little pack of cigarettes that he had taken with him from his apartment out of the pocket of his leather jacket, and gave one to Liam.

‘Yeah, perfect,’ he chuckled, hanging the cigarette between his lips and looking up at Theo with a feigned angry, serious look in his eyes. ‘How’s this?’

‘That’s good,’ Theo laughed, getting his phone out of his pocket, and taking a quick picture of him. ‘There, that’s a nice picture right there. Leeyum.’

Then, just like that, the smile disappeared from Liam’s face and he took off the cowboy hat, an angry look in his piercing blue eyes. ‘Sorry, but would you mind not calling me that?’ he asked.

Theo’s cheeks heated up, his mouth going dry. He hadn’t known that Liam didn’t actually like that…

‘I always used to…’ he said, quietly, thinking back on all the times when he did.

‘Yeah, used to!’ Liam responded a little louder, interrupting him and pulling the cigarette out of his mouth. ‘But that was before you left for college! Before you left town suddenly, four years ago!’

‘Liam…’ Theo started, the sharp, painful feeling of guilt in his chest as he realized how he’d made Liam feel. He wanted to explain it to his friend. But how could he when that friend wouldn’t give him a chance?

‘You know, I thought things were going great between us!’ Liam exclaimed. ‘I thought things were going better and something more was actually happening with us, and then one day you suddenly announce to me that you’re leaving town! To go to college! While I’d never heard you about that! You left town and you… You left me too.’

His sudden defeated tone left a sharp, hurt feeling in his Theo’s chest and he swallowed, looking over at Liam, at the angry look on his face and the tears that were shining in his eyes. He should’ve realized that that was how Liam felt, as every word he just said was undeniably the truth, and Theo had felt like something more had been happening with them as well.

‘Liam, I’m sorry…’ he started, to explain, but Liam continued.

‘You know, at first it didn’t bother me as much,’ he said. ‘I thought we’d be okay and that distance wouldn’t matter for us. But then you started calling less and less every time, and suddenly I wasn’t so sure anymore. Because we drifted apart and suddenly I had to get used to the fact that you weren’t there anymore if I’d had a hard day, or when I wanted you to be the first person to hear my good news! Do you know how fucking lonely that felt? I missed you, and you didn’t call.’

‘Liam, I’m sorry,’ Theo whispered, now with tears in his eyes as well. ‘But you know mom and dad decided to move away, I couldn’t do anything. And so I went to college, there was a chance I wanted to take. And then I told you I would go.’

‘Of course,’ Liam said, and Theo saw in everything that he meant it. ‘But do you know how bloody hard it is to move away from a town like this? I never did it. I just thought it wouldn’t mean anything for us, like distance wouldn’t matter, and we’d be stronger than that. And then I found out that… We weren’t.’

Theo swallowed, he’d hurt Liam, he understood that. But how could he explain to the boy that college had been busy, and he’d less and less time to call him every day, and that he missed him too just as much, if not more? And that listening to his voice on the phone when he couldn’t have him next to him had become increasingly harder.

Because what Liam said was true, they were becoming something more and Theo could remember the one time when it had almost lead them to where they wanted to go.

‘And now you’re suddenly back here again, in front of me,’ Liam said quietly in conclusion. ‘Do you know how surreal that is?’

Theo shook his head. ‘Liam, I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that, making us drift apart, and I didn’t mean to startle you by coming back here,’ he said, before voicing his earlier thoughts to the other boy, and watched the expression on Liam’s face become a little more calm and understanding. He let out a breath of relief. ‘I’m just really glad to see you again.’

‘Me too, you idiot,’ Liam sniffled, before he let out a soft sob and chuckle at the same time. ‘I can’t believe I forgot to say that.’

Theo couldn’t help but laugh softly at that, and he cautiously took a step closer to wipe away a tear from Liam’s face, checking if that was okay with him. ‘I’m sorry… Come here, I’m so fucking sorry,’ he said, he couldn’t believe that he wasted this chance with someone like Liam, or actually Liam, the way that he had.

‘Me too,’ Liam responded. ‘Seeing you back here is surreal, but definitely good.’ He looked up at him, a vulnerable look in his eyes. ‘Really good.’

Theo’s heart skipped a beat and he looked over at Liam, at the expectant look in his eyes that just maybe meant that he was forgiven now that Liam had said what he wanted to say, needed to say, and he knew he couldn’t take it anymore. ‘Oh, come here,’ he said bravely then, before pulling Liam closer and pressing his lips against his.

Theo could feel himself smiling against Liam’s lips, as he realized that the thought of doing this had been lingering in the back of his mind ever since coming eye to eye with the boy in the convenience store, and he realized that he missed him too, remembering that they had once almost done this already, four years ago now.

When they pulled apart, Liam opened his eyes slowly and Theo’s heart was hammering in his chest, as he looked right into Liam’s eyes. ‘Is this alright?’ he asked softly, and Liam nodded, grinning.

‘More than alright,’ he whispered back, his mouth still close to Theo’s, and Theo smiled.

‘Well, what do you say we grab a drink at Johnny’s café now then, like we always secretly used to in high school? _Leeyum_?’ he winked.

Liam beamed. ‘Sounds good to me, _Tio_ ,’ he responded, chuckling wickedly, before earning a final push against his shoulder from Theo.

*****

Liam didn’t get to see Theo’s new place so well after all that night, though he was sure that wasn’t his fault. Not when Theo clumsily carried him up the stairs, a giggling mess from having drunk a little too much, and he had his legs wrapped around Theo’s waist.

Together, they stumbled into Theo’s tiny bedroom, giggling, and Liam let himself drop on the bed. ‘It’s so small here,’ he groaned, though he could barely finish his sentence before Theo was kissing him again, giggling nervously when he barely managed to pull Liam’s shirt over his head. Liam let out a laugh, waiting until Theo was ready, before they continued what they both wanted to do so badly, their groceries, records, and Theo’s suitcases still forgotten downstairs in the car.

And when Liam woke up to the light of the sun the next day, in the comfortable warmth of Theo’s arms and perfectly well-rested, he looked towards the other boy with a soft smile on his face. Theo was still asleep, looking adorable, and Liam carefully reached out to brush his hair out of his closed eyes.

He had to wait long enough for this, and even though it had been messy, he couldn’t deny that he was so perfectly and undeniably happy right now. Maybe their story had been _a crazy little thing called love_ indeed, but Liam planned to enjoy this like nothing else.


End file.
